Mumbai: Patralekha received immense critical acclaim for her debut film “CityLights” but the Indian actress says much to her surprise, there were not many good roles that came her way.
The actress starred in the 2014 Hansal Mehta directed drama-thriller, which also featured her boyfriend actor Rajkummar Rao.
Patralekha essayed the role of a mother of five-year-old girl in the film, which was a remake of the British movie “Metro Manila”. “Once ‘CityLights’ was out, the film got a lot of acclaim and it did amazing as well. I thought I’ll get lots of offers but I didn’t. Couple of offers were of mother’s role which I didn’t want to play. I was 24 then and I did it because I just wanted to act,” Patralekha told PTI. The actress, now 26-year-old, did not know if there is “ripple effect” of starting out playing a certain character and wanted to do something “impactful” after her debut. “I don’t know if you get typecast or what is the ripple effect of a character you have portrayed. For six to seven months I didn’t get any good offers. It’s not like I didn’t get any offer, I did. After ‘CityLights’, I thought I should do something more impactful.” Patralekha will be next seen in the erotic-thriller “Love Games”. The actress met the film’s director Vikram Bhatt who asked her to get some glamorous pictures clicked, so as to break away from the image of a rural girl from her previous movie. Patralekha instantly came on board for the film which features her in a bold role as a high society woman named, Ramona, but the actress had no qualms essaying the character, which she says, is a sign of changing times. “There was no apprehension as Ramona was just another character for me. Somebody had told me why are you doing this, Indian men only love to see women who are virgins on screen. That’s the thinking I don’t belong to. We are women, we are empowered and independent. There is a new India emerging today and people should wake up and see it.” She said the audience today needs to accept that there are certain issues which exist in the society and not shy away from them. “Love Games” is scheduled to release on April 8. — PTI
